Mention the word solar in relation to a home and most people get
ideas of panel systems on roofs. In truth, any home with windows
is using solar energy.
Easy, Free Energy
You may not realize it, but you live in a solar home. In fact,
every home you've lived in was powered with solar in one form or
another. This concept is known as passive solar and can be used
to save you serious money on utilities.
In every home, there is a room or set of rooms that bake in the
sun during the day. Many people know this, but don't realize it,
when they complain about certain rooms burning up during the day
while others are cold. The hot rooms, of course, are sitting in
the sun all day. Since the sun is essentially a nuclear reactor,
the power is sends to the earth is immense. Rooms can heat up to
sweltering temperatures within 30 minutes as a testament to this
power. Given some thought, you can use this power to passively
heat your home.
Sunlight is very easy to put to work in a home. When you want
heat, let it in. When you don't, block the access areas. When
sun energy enters an area through a window, the area is known as
an isolated gain location. For instance, light streaming through
a bedroom window will make the room an isolated gain area that
heats up if you close the door. There are two excellent ways to
put this to your use.
You can use sunlight to passively heat your home by adding
isolated gain areas that track the path of the sun. Heat rises
and evens out through a home. If the home has isolated access
areas that track the path of the sun, you can gain free heat
throughout the day. Most homes will have windows at the end of
each home, but limited sunlight access through the roof. A good
way to add heating to your home is through sun room roofs or
skylights.
A second method for turning the sunlight into heat involves
materials. Certain materials take longer to heat up in the sun,
but also will generate heat longer once the sun has set. This is
known as using thermal mass to heat a home. For instance,
masonry materials universally collect and hold energy from the
sun. Used for flooring below a window, the materials will heat
up throughout the day. Once the sun sets, the materials will
continue to expend heat for hours on end. If you doubt this,
give some thought to how long your fireplace continues to
radiate heat after the fire has gone out.
Using sunlight to heat your home passively will never replace
the need for utilities. Minor home improvements, however, can
help create heat during the day and make your home more
comfortable.
More Information:Rick Chapo is with
www.solarcompanies.com, a directory of solar energy and solar power companies. Visit
www.solarcompanies.com/articles to read more solar electricity articles.
Categories
